Cost, Price and the Visa Card

When I mention a price or cost of an item without additional information,  I'll be referring to the retail cost,  what I actually paid. If I quote a wholesale price I will note it.  I'll try to remember to provide the source,  especially if the item is difficult to find. 

Since some items are sold in my restaurants I may walk you through cost calculations,  pricing decision-making,  stuff like that.  You'll see that some of what we sell doesn't cost much. Hopefully you'll understand that the big equation - - when at the end of the month we tally all of the expenses and set them aside the revenue - - still earns us less than ten cents on the dollar. 

There is no magic Visa Card that funds losses.  In other words,  the rare item we can sell at a high profit margin is offset by many that we cannot,  hopefully the overall result allows us to stay open and do it all again.

Oleo Saccharum

In our restaurants we juice a lot of lemons. Which led me think I could best Jeffrey Morgenthaler's self-described "lazy" Oleo Saccharum method, if not in quality, at least in lazy-ness. Morgenthaler, you see, peels lemons, but I just collect the left-over peels after the lemons have been juiced. These hollowed-out lemon halves are mixed in a big bowl with sugar, them vacuum sealed in bags. We date them and label them (don't want to confuse them with salted, preserved lemons) and store them in the refrigerator. By the time we're ready to use the Oleo Saccharum, the lemon oils and whatever juice remains have dissolved the sugar. The exact ratio of lemon to sugar is a matter of feel, but equal amounts by weight would be a good starting point.

By the way, buy Jeffrey Morgenthaler's book, it is excellent, and represents years of learning and hard work, yours for the taking, with just a few hours of reading. Talk about a time saver....

Limoncello Hack

For this first post, I share a recipe developed at Lark Creek Blue (with apologies to Jeffery Morgenthaler)  for quick-and-dirty Limoncello. Aficionados of the classic Italian lemon liqueur might wince, but I like this version, it is quick, easy, inexpensive and makes an excellent ingredient in cocktails, punches and sangria.

Limoncello

Makes 50 Ounces

Ingredients:
24 ounces of Oleo Saccharum
1 liter vodka

Method:
Strain the Oleo Saccharum through a fine mesh strainer or double layer of cheesecloth to remove any seeds, bits of fruit or undissolved sugar. Stir together with the vodka. Bottle, chill, enjoy.